dry mouth

[talladega]

I find myself recently waking a time or two a night with a very dry mouth. This dryness is much more than the typical dryness due to sinus meds and such. I use an optilife mask, papcap and tape mouth so am relative sure no mouth breathing here. Any ideas as to potential cause?

[Goofproof]

The most common cause of dry mouth, is Mouthbreathing. You use a nasal mask, air leaks out of you mouth when you sleep, this causes dry mouth,excessive water loss in your HH if you use it.

Mouthleaking can cause your treatment to fail, as pressure can't be maintained to hold your airway open, by the machine. The cure is to use a FF mask, that covers you mouth and nose and hold the pressure in to keep the airway open. Chin straps might help, but are usually a poor answer. Taping your mouth shut will do the job, if done right. Jim

[Guest]

A short piece of Ace bandage may prevent 'chipmonk cheeks' if air is accumulating in your mouth. Dry mouth is not good for the teeth...cavities, etc. Also, a protective mouth rinse before bed may help, such as ACT. Just a suggestion.

[echo]

Jim, talladega does mention using mouth tape in the post, so it shouldn't be an issue... On the other hand as you say, if the taping is done incorrectly there can still be mouth leaking.

I found that mouth taping just didn't work for me in the end and I've gone the FFM route. Somehow my GERD seems to be worse when I tape (also causing dry mouth) than when I use the FFM. I have no explanation for this but I wake up with a much nicer feeling in the inside of my mouth with the FFM.

[brazospearl]

Some forum members use Biotene mouthwash to help with dry mouth. Does adjusting the humidity level help?

[Goofproof]

Jim, talladega does mention using mouth tape in the post, so it shouldn't be an issue... On the other hand as you say, if the taping is done incorrectly there can still be mouth leaking.

I found that mouth taping just didn't work for me in the end and I've gone the FFM route. Somehow my GERD seems to be worse when I tape (also causing dry mouth) than when I use the FFM. I have no explanation for this but I wake up with a much nicer feeling in the inside of my mouth with the FFM.

Yes she does, but that doesn't mean she is doing it effectly, A data machine and software are needed to see if it's effective. Jim